Wun "MMA" Seong Won beat Jang "MC" Min Chul to win the third season of Blizzard's WCS Europe.

StarCraft II player Mun MMA Seong Won has won the third season of Blizzards World Championship Series for the European region. His win earned him $20,000 and 1,500 WCS points.

Mun took the title after a back and forth series with Jang MC Min Chul. Mun would take a commanding lead, initially, after winning the maps Akilon Wastes, Frost LE, and Whirlwind LE. After establishing his early advantage he would falter and concede games on Yeonsu LE and Belshir Vestige LE. Mun would then rally to close the series after defending Jangs one base, blink stalker allin on Derelict Watcher TE.

Though Jang, undoubtedly, hoped to win the finals, he might find solace that his second place, $12,000, finish now brings him to over $400,000 in tournament winnings. He currently has more tournament earnings than any other professional StarCraft II player.

Mun and Jang now sit at 7th and 8th respectively in the yearly WCS standings. Given that both players still have the WCS Season Three Finals ahead of them, their attendance at this years WCS Grand Finals is assured.

The WCS Grand Finals will take place at BlizzCon in the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California on November 8th and 9th.

Editor's note: Though the SC2 Earnings website lists Jang as being just shy of $400,000, they don't include the $5,000 he'll earn from attending the WCS Season Three Finals.

Expansion will feature four "fan-favorite" maps from Battlefield 3 updated using Frostbite 3 engine; will be available on other platforms later.

The Second Assault digital expansion for Battlefield 4 will be available on Xbox One when the next-generation console launches on November 22, Electronic Arts has announced. The content will be released on other platforms later.

Second Assault features four "fan-favorite" maps from Battlefield 3 updated using the Frostbite 3 engine. The content was announced during Microsoft's E3 2013 presentation and will be featured in the upcoming Battlefield 4: Showdown event.

The expansion is one of five add-ons for Battlefield 4 included with the $50 Battlefield 4 Premium membership. Members receive access to all Battlefield 4 expansions two weeks ahead of non-subscribers, and also get priority position in server queues and exclusive double XP events, among other bonuses.

Battlefield 4 launches on October 29 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. The PlayStation 4 version arrives on November 12, while the Xbox One iteration hits November 19. A beta for the game began last week and runs through October 15.

"Battlefield 4 Second Assault DLC out for Xbox One at launch" was posted by Eddie Makuch on Mon, 07 Oct 2013 09:55:28 -0700

Source: GameSpot.com

Kinect Sports Rivals could be Xbox One's Mario Kart, says dev

Rare creative director says game will appeal to new users years after launch in a similar way to popular Wii titles.

Kinect Sports Rivals could be the Xbox One's version of Wii Sports or Mario Kart for Wii--a game with enduring appeal--Rare Ltd.'s creative director Simon Woodroffe told OXM in a new interview.

"We think--well, we hope--that this is the sort of game that's still one of the first things that anyone who buys an Xbox One gets even two or three years from now," Woodrooffe said. "Sort of like Wii Sports and Mario Kart for the Wii."

Kinect Sports Rivals stands to have a long tail, Woodrooffe said, due in part to its presentation style.

"Our visual aesthetic, our graphics, are quite evergreen, they're not going to date--it's got that sort of Pixar-style look to it," he said. "We're trying to make something that's still relevant to consumers as the audience shifts away from the core early adopters to the mainstream gamers--it's still a relevant experience for them. And of course for them it's even better value because there's more things going on, there's a history there that they can get involved in."

Kinect Sports Rivals is a follow-up to 2010's Kinect Sports for Xbox 360. The game was originally slated to launch this holiday on Xbox One, but was delayed this summer to spring 2014. It features six minigames that require motion control: climbing, wake racing, soccer, bowling, tennis, and target shooting.

SVP Olivier Wolff says in fact there is demand for new and different experiences within the label.

The Lego franchise of video games has seen "no fatigue at all," and in fact consumers are calling for new and different experiences within the brand, according to Warner Bros. SVP for international games Olivier Wolff.

Speaking with GamesIndustry International, Wolff said the secret to success has been the power of the Lego brand itself, the various franchises the games have tapped into, and the way in which series developer Traveller's Tales designs the games; namely, with humor and accessibility in mind.

"I think that it is a really interesting blend of IPs. At the core of it you've got Lego and the sustained success of Lego as a family franchise in so many parts of the world year after year. We've played with it as kids, as parents now, so there is that element behind it," Wolff said.

"But in parallel to that you've got the fact that Lego has brought into toys great IPs, and therefore we can express it in games, and with the encounter of great IPs expressed in toys, you've got the magic of [Traveller's Tales] which has a unique sense of humor," he added. "Without the humor of TT there wouldn't be great Lego games."

Wolff acknowledged that Warner Bros. had been concerned regarding the potential for oversaturation of Lego games. However, this has proven not to be the case, he said.

"The reality is that there's absolutely no fatigue at all and there is actually a demand for different experiences," Wolff said. "And that humor element that I mentioned, and also the innovation."

The Lego brand is one component of Warner Bros.' video game portfolio, but the company could be successful without it, Wolff said.

"We are not dependent on it," Wolff said when asked what percentage of games revenue is derived from Lego products. "It's one strong leg of the IPs that we have. It's really a steady base or a steady foundation for everything that we have, but we've got Batman, we've got Mortal Kombat, we've got all the DC expressions in different ways, on console but also online and in the mobile space. We've got the Lord of the Rings, which is huge, we have the chance of having lots of different legs that can play together in a way that we can phase them in and out."

The difficulty Warner Bros. faces with regards to games, Wolff said, is ensuring that whenever the company launches a new game, "we are building the franchise and not creating a deception that could have big long-term consequences."

A number of new Lego games are in the works, including Lego Marvel Super Heroes for current- and next-generation consoles, as well as Lego Legends of Chima Online, and the all-new Lego MMO from Funcom.

Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition will be released for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, PC, and Xbox 360 on November 12, Sony announced today.

No mention was made of an Xbox One or Wii U version. The PS3, PS4, and Xbox 360 iterations will sell for $60, while the PC version will go for $50, and the PS Vita SKU for $40.

The Ultimate Edition features all previously released downloadable content for Injustice: Gods Among Us, including characters like Batgirl, General Zod, Martian Manhunter, and Zatanna.

The PS4 version was developed by High Voltage Software and will make use of touchpad functionality and video sharing and streaming.

The PS Vita iteration of Injustice: Gods Among Us was handled by Armature Studio, the Austin, Texas company founded by former members of Metroid shop Retro Studios. Armature is also working on Batman: Arkham Origins - Blackgate for the PS Vita and 3DS.

"When developing Injustice on Vita, our primary goal was to make sure it could hold its own next to its console counterpart," said PlayStation digital platforms senior director Jack Buser. "The PS3 version has beautiful lighting, destructible environments, and--most importantly--60 FPS fighting. We worked tirelessly to bring this experience to the handheld, and pulled out all the stops to push the PS Vita as hard as we could to make all of the above happen."

The PS Vita version of Injustice: Gods Among Us will also feature ad-hoc multiplayer, traditional multiplayer through WiFi, and touch controls for Story Mode and various S.T.A.R. Labs Missions.

Next-gen console's DVR functionality will automatically record the moment a player records an in-game Achievement.

The Xbox One's Game DVR functionality will automatically record the moment a player unlocks an in-game Achievement, Xbox Australia platform category lead Adam Pollington confirmed in a new interview with YouTube user ChampChong (via Kotaku).

Previously, players would have to set up an external capture system to save a moment such as this.

The Game DVR feature for Xbox One continually records around five minutes of footage in the background, which players can then process through Microsoft's Upload studio and share with friends. Captured content can be shared only through Xbox Live at launch, with support for social networking sites like Facebook coming later.

Sony's PlayStation 4 will automatically record the last 15 minutes of gameplay, which players can then edit and share with their friends through the DualShock 4's new "Share" button. It is not clear if the PS4's video recording functionality will capture the moment a player unlocks a trophy.

The Xbox One and PS4 launch next month. According to a report from the International Data Corporation, the PS4 will outsell the Xbox One at launch due to a variety of factors, including its lower price point.

"Xbox One Game DVR captures all Achievements" was posted by Eddie Makuch on Mon, 07 Oct 2013 07:50:42 -0700

Source: GameSpot.com

FIFA 14 patch released on 360 and PS3 this week

Second title update for FIFA 14 will balance through balls, headers, and finesse shots, EA says.

The second patch for FIFA 14 is scheduled to go live on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this week, EA says.

Major changes coming to the new patch, which is currently live on PC, will see through balls, attacking headers, and finesse shots all fine tuned to address feedback from the community that scoring is currently too easy.

Additionally, EA says it has located "some" of the issues that's causing the game to freeze for some users. For any freezing issues that persist, EA asks that affected users notify the developers through the game's official forums. "Your feedback has helped immensely," says EA.

EA's patch notes for FIFA 14 Title Update 2:

 Balancing lofted through balls.
 Balancing attacking headers.
 Balancing finesse shots.
 Improved defender switching during crosses.
 Freezes while making substitutions during gameplay.
 Freezes while entering and exiting Leaderboards.
 Improvements made to Dynamic Camera.
 Corrected crowd sections in Signal Iduna Park.
 Corrected "Any" and GK filters in Pro Clubs.
 We've responded to the community and upgraded FIFA 14 cover star Stephan El Shaarawy to 4* Skills in Online Seasons, Head to Head, and Career Mode using EA SPORTS Football Club Match Day. Since the FIFA 14 Ultimate Team ratings and database are separate from the Match Day Update, he will be assessed and potentially upgraded in FUT at a later date.

EA has not specified a fixed date for when the patch will go live, but adds that it will "share more news" when the date has been finalised.

"FIFA 14 patch released on 360 and PS3 this week" was posted by Martin Gaston on Mon, 07 Oct 2013 07:37:40 -0700

One of Microsoft's Xbox marketing leaders Yusuf Mehdi has opened up on the advertising potential for the soon-to-be-released Xbox One console. Speaking during the recent Association of National Advertisers Masters of Marketing Conference, as reported by AdAge, Mehdi hinted at the possibility of making Xbox data available to advertisers.

"We are trying to bridge some of the world between online and offline," he said. "That's a little bit of a holy grail in terms of how you understand the consumer in that 360 degrees of their life."

"We have a pretty unique position at Microsoft because of what we do with digital, as well as more and more with television because of Xbox," he added. "It's early days, but we're starting to put that together in more of a unifying way, and hopefully at some point we can start to offer that to advertisers broadly."

Through its Kinect camera, the Xbox One will have a window into players' living rooms. This opens up a "huge new trove of data" about how people are interacting with TV ads, according to one marketer who spoke under the condition of anonymity.

"It could have a big impact on [advertising pricing]," he said, given the Xbox One's ability to determine if people are paying attention to advertisements or how their bodies respond to promotional material.

Last week, Xbox director of product planning Albert Penello said this kind of biometric data does not leave the local Xbox One console unless people allow it to and that Kinect was not designed with advertising in mind. Still, the advertising potential for Xbox One, should consumers allow this data to be shared, would be unprecedented, AdAge writes.

"If even a fraction of likely Xbox One users could be persuaded to share data, the technology could create the world's largest panel for measuring biometric responses to advertising."

42 Achievements for Battlefield 4, with five allocated towards multiplayer and 37 for single-player

The full list of Achievements for DICE's upcoming Battlefield 4 have been posted online.

Light spoilers for Battlefield 4 follow.

Listed by Xbox 360 Achievements, the game will launch with 42 Achievements, with 5 allocated towards multiplayer and the rest associated with the Battlefield 4 single-player campaign.

The Achievement listing also shows that the single-player campaign has three endings, alongside awards related to completing objectives in certain missions, alongside finding all of the 28 collectibles throughout the campaign.

Over on the multiplayer side, Battlefield 4 has Achievements for winning a match on each game mode, reaching rank 25, delivering five bombs in the game's Obliteration mode, obtaining 45 kills with the M1911, and performing five dog tag kills.

Battlefield 4 will be released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on October 29. Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions will follow at launch.

The full list of Achievements for Battlefield 4:

 Storm bringer (25G) - Obtain 20,000 points in the Singapore mission in the Campaign
 A one-man riot (25G) - Obtain 11,000 points in the Shanghai mission in the Campaign
 Terror of the deep (25G) - Obtain 11,000 points in the South China Sea mission in the Campaign
 Gladiator (25G) - Obtain 12,000 points in the Kunlun Mountains mission in the Campaign
 Above and beyond the call (25G) - Complete all Assignments in the Campaign
 Demolition man (25G) - Obtain 15,000 points in the Tashgar mission in the Campaign
 Guardian of the fleet (25G) - Obtain 6,000 points in the Suez mission in the Campaign
 Full arsenal (65G) - Unlock all assignments and collectibles in the Campaign
 Fish (20G) - Complete the Campaign on Easy
 Dunn's pride (25G) - Obtain 7,000 points in the Baku mission in the Campaign
 Braving the storm (20G) - Complete the Singapore mission in the Campaign
 Wolves in sheep's clothing (20G) - Complete the Shanghai mission in the Campaign
 The fall of a Titan (20G) - Complete the South China Sea mission in the Campaign
 Dead by dawn (20G) - Complete the Kunlun Mountains mission in the Campaign
 Guns at dawn (20G) - Complete the Suez mission in the Campaign
 Fishing in Baku (20G) - Complete the Baku mission in the Campaign
 Antediluvian (20G) - Complete the Tashgar mission in the Campaign
 It was on the way (20G) - Find 6 collectibles in the Campaign
 Took a casual look around (20G) - Find 9 collectibles in the Campaign
 Methodical search (20G) - Find 15 collectibles in the Campaign
 Done some searching (20G) - Find 12 collectibles in the Campaign
 No stone left unturned (20G) - Find 18 collectibles in the Campaign
 Every nook and cranny (20G) - Find 21 collectibles in the Campaign
 Stumbled over it (20G) - Find 3 collectibles in the Campaign
 Wolf (25G) - Complete the Campaign on Normal
 Tombstone (25G) - Complete the Campaign on Hard
 Recon (65G) - Find 28 collectibles in the Campaign
 Well placed (20G) - Get 10 kills with C4 in the Baku mission in the Campaign
 Wrecker (20G) - Get 10 multi-kills in the Shanghai mission in the Campaign
 Blood wake (20G) - Get 30 headshots in the South China Sea mission in the Campaign
 War turtle (20G) - Get 15 kills with RPG in the Singapore mission in the Campaign
 Infiltrator (20G) - Get 10 adrenaline kills in the Tashgar mission in the Campaign
 Shawshank (20G) - Get 5 kills with Shank in the Kunlun Mountains mission in the Campaign
 For tombstone (20G) - Let the Valkyrie be destroyed in the Campaign
 For the people (20G) - Sacrifice Irish to save the Valkyrie in the Campaign
 For the cause (20G) - Sacrifice Hannah to save the Valkyrie in the Campaign
 Patience is a virtue (20G) - Experience all 3 endings in the Campaign
 Turn around (10G) - Perform 5 dog tag kills in Multiplayer
 Won them all (10G) - Win a round of each game mode
 .45 old school (25G) - Perform 45 kills with the M1911 Handgun in Multiplayer
 Bomb squad (25G) - Deliver 5 bombs in Obliteration
 Call me "Sir" (50G) - Reach rank 25

Plants and leaves in upcoming Assassin's Creed game will react to weather systems and player interaction, but 99.9 percent of players won't notice, says game director.

All foliage in the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag will have physics assigned to them, game director Ashraf Ismail told GameSpot in a new interview. Various plants and leaves in the game will dynamically react to weather systems and player interaction.

"One thing that's very important to the brand of Assassin's Creed is credibility; having a world that you believe in. And on next-gen, as a quick example, we have physics on all the foliage in the world," Ismail said.

This technical achievement--highlighted in a recent trailer for the game--will go unnoticed by the masses, Ismail said.

"I guarantee 99.9 percent of the people won't even notice, but there's going to be a few people that pick up on certain details and it's this stuff that I think will show that we truly love this experience," he said.

Foliage effects aren't the only feature the next-generation versions of Assassin's Creed: Black Flag will make use of in an attempt to become the "most immersive Assassin's Creed yet." The game also features a "sea engine" that aims to replicate genuine movements of waves and colors of the water.

The game also features a weather system that includes independently lit rain drops, as well as dynamic puddles and volumetric fog.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag launches October 29 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, November 19 for PC, and as launch titles for the PS4 (November 15) and Xbox One (November 22).

The free-roaming action game set during the Golden Age of Pirates stars a young captain Edward Kenway, the grandfather of Assassin's Creed III's Connor and descendant of Desmond Miles. Players will meet up with legendary pirates including Blackbeard and Charles Vane as they journey through the West indies.

Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida says the DualShock 4 will be able to perform "basic functions" on Windows PCs, and that "the analog sticks and buttons will work just fine."

The DualShock 4 controller will work on PCs at launch, Sony has said.

Speaking on Twitter, Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida said the new controller will be able to perform "basic functions" on Windows PCs, adding that "the analog sticks and buttons will work just fine".

Some of the more advanced features of the DualShock 4 controller, and perhaps unlikely to function via the PC, include a light bar, a capacitive touch pad, and motion sensing capabilities. The pad will be available at launch in black, red, and blue colours.

It is unclear if the controller will support PC out of the box, or will require additional drivers in order to function. The PlayStation 3's DualShock 3 controller did not include driver support for PC, though a few third-party workarounds are available.

Microsoft will also release an update for the upcoming Xbox One controller to make it compatible with the PC sometime in 2014.

The PlayStation 4 will launch on November 15 in North America for $399, and on November 29 in Europe for €399/£349.

"DualShock 4 will work on PC at launch" was posted by Martin Gaston on Mon, 07 Oct 2013 03:38:38 -0700

Source: GameSpot.com

GTAV overtakes GTAIV lifetime sales in the UK

Rockstar's latest becomes the 12th best-selling game of all time in the UK, overtaking its predecessor's lifetime sales just three weeks after launch.

Grand Theft Auto V has overtaken the lifetime sales of Grand Theft Auto IV in the UK after three weeks on sale, sales tracking company Chart-Track has reported.

Rockstar's latest open-world title sold 1.57 million units in the UK after its first day on sale, overtaking previous record holder Call of Duty: Black Ops' 1.41 million to become the fastest-selling game in UK history.

Chart-Track adds that Grand Theft Auto V is now the UK's 12th best-selling game of all time, and has raked in the fifth largest revenue in gaming records. Grand Theft Auto V has now almost equaled the money made by Call of Duty: Black Ops, the company adds.

This week also saw the launch of Grand Theft Auto Online, with the latest patch for the game--which has been suffering connectivity problems since launch--going live over the weekend.

The massive sales milestone was not enough for Grand Theft Auto V to reclaim the top spot in the UK charts this week from football sim FIFA 14, however. Sales of the annual football franchise have dropped 68 percent in its second week, which is a better result than the 72 percent drop for FIFA 13 this time last year.

Codemasters' F1 2013 entered the charts in third, followed by The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD. Just Dance 4 launched in ninth place, with NBA 2K14 landing in seventh.

[UPDATE 2] Rockstar Games said this evening that it now expects the GTA Online title update to hit Xbox 360 "sometime overnight." The update aims to address a number of issues, which are listed on the Rockstar Newswire.

[UPDATE] Rockstar Games this morning released the GTA Online patch for the PlayStation 3. The developer is currently working to get it up for the Xbox 360 "as soon as possible."

The original story is below.

Some of Grand Theft Auto Online's numerous bugs and issues could be patched out as early as tomorrow, October 4, Rockstar Games said today.

"We're currently working on a title update for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 to address commonly reported issues with GTA Online," the developer said in an update on its website. "We hope to have it out for download as soon as tomorrow."

GTA Online--the multiplayer mode for Grand Theft Auto V--has been beset with numerous issues since launch on Tuesday. In some cases, players have not been able to access the mode at all.

Yesterday, Rockstar removed microtransactions from GTA Online.

The launch issues for GTA Online were expected. Ahead of release last week, Rockstar said players should expect various "growing pains," including crashes, glitches, "crazy bugs," and gameplay modes and mechanics that need rebalancing.

These issues are "inevitable," Rockstar said at the time, due to the "massive" nature of the open-world game.

For more on GTA Online, check out GameSpot's "Five Tips to Get You Started in GTA Online" feature.

Eiji Aonuma speaks positively about upcoming Wii U Zelda game, says it will use GamePad in "various ways"; wants to shake up series with new game.

Development on the upcoming Wii U Legend of Zelda game is "going well," series producer Eiji Aonuma told 4Gamer in a new interview translated by Siliconera.

"Its going well!, Aonuma said, explaining that the new game will use the Wii U GamePad in "various ways." None of these were specified.

Also in the interview, Aonuma was asked about his recent comment that he is "tired" of making Zelda games. This quote was misinterpreted, he said, because he really meant he is tired of making games based on the same formula.

When I say Im tired, Im not talking about making Zelda, but rather, the same constituent that has been used to make Zelda up until now," Aonuma said. "While on the subject, in regard to how weve always done things the traditional way until now: Why does it have to be traditional? Thats the question Ive been asking myself.

If we dont change that, we cant make something new. Were slightly approaching The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds with that mindset, and also the next Zelda title, which we intend to continue changing," he added. "However, this brings us to the topic, Exactly what is The Legend of Zelda about?

Aonuma said something that is "traditional" is something that, in a sense, copies from the work that came before it. By continuing to do this, a franchise's uniqueness can fade away, he said.

"So, by no means, am I tired of it, Aonuma said. Rather, the more we change it, the more I get fired up. Having someone think Huh? Is this Zelda?! at first, then Oh, it is Zelda, is what were going for. Something that wouldn't make it matter whether Link or Princess Zelda appear in it or not. Something where it wouldn't even matter if Zelda is actually a princess, or not.

Aonuma will discuss the Legend of Zelda series during a New York Comic Con panel next week in New York City.

Valve today announced system specifications for its Steam Machine prototype, which the company will ship to 300 users this year as part of a limited hardware testing program.

GPU: some units with Nvidia Titan, some GTX780, some GTX760, and some GTX660

CPU: some boxes with Intel: i7-4770, some i5-4570, and some i3

RAM: 16GB DDR3-1600 (CPU), 3GB DDR5 (GPU)

Hard drive: 1TB/8GB Hybrid SSHD

Power Supply: Internal 450w 80Plus Gold

Hard Drive: 35GB HD space

Dimensions: approx. 12 x 12.4 x 2.9 in high

In a statement on the Steam Community website, Valve described its prototype as "something special." It is built from off-the-shelf PC parts and is fully upgradable, meaning users can swap out the GPU, hard drive, CPU, or the motherboard if they want to.

"To be clear, this design is not meant to serve the needs of all of the tens of millions of Steam users," Valve said about its prototype. "It may, however, be the kind of machine that a significant percentage of Steam users would actually want to purchase--those who want plenty of performance in a high-end living room package. Many others would opt for machines that have been more carefully designed to cost less, or to be tiny, or super quiet, and there will be Steam Machines that fit those descriptions.

Valve said it is not ready to share a picture of its prototype because "they're not finished enough." However, the company said it will post images of the device before units ship to testers this year. Valve also expects users to redesign the machine from a technical perspective and from an industrial design angle, changing the enclosure in new ways.

"So high-powered SteamOS living room machines are nice, and fun to play with, and will make many Steam customers happy. But there are a lot of other Steam customers who already have perfectly great gaming hardware at home in the form of a powerful PC," Valve said.

"The prototype we're talking about here is not meant to replace that. Many of those users would like to have a way to bridge the gap into the living room without giving up their existing hardware and without spending lots of money," Valve added. "We think that's a great goal, and we're working on ways to use our in-home streaming technology to accomplish it--we'll talk more about that in the future."

Valve's Steam Machine, as well as units made by a variety of companies, will be available beginning in 2014. Hardware specifications for those machines will differ, in many cases substantially, from Valve's system, the company said.

Pricing has not been announced.

Valve ended its announcement today by telling fans to stay tuned for a "closer look" at the Steam Controller.

Through partnership with Coke Zero, new series will run in tandem with the League of Legends LCS.

Riot Games has announced an all-new challenger competition for League of Legends. Through a partnership with Coke Zero, the event will run in tandem with the League Championship Series when it begins again in 2014.

"It's definitely important to foster competitive play at all levels. The Challenger league is a big step in the right direction," Riot Games head of eSports Dustin Beck said.

"It'll provide exposure to the next generation of pro-level teams and players, and give them crucial event experience and stability," he added. "Coke's sponsorship is unique--they recognized the importance of this aspirational level, they're as excited about it as we are."

According to the official announcement, the new challenger series will support rising teams that are hoping to gain entry into the LCS in North America or Europe. Weekly matchups will be broadcast live on lolesports.com.

Top-ranked teams from the Ranked 5s Challenger Tier will play against each other in the challenger series. When the series comes to a close, the highest placed teams will play in a championship tournament for a chance to go to the LCS.

"Riot Games reveals new League of Legends challenger series" was posted by Eddie Makuch on Fri, 04 Oct 2013 12:56:49 -0700

Third-person zombie game State of Decay has now sold more than 1 million copies, up from 500,000 in June, developer Undead Labs announced today. This figure includes Xbox 360 and Steam Early Access sales, the developer said.

"We are humbled by your continuing support and enthusiasm for the ideas in State of Decay," Undead Labs said in a statement. "Your encouragement drives us to keep working and keep improving. You got us here with your energy, your feedback, and your telling your friends about us. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts and brains."

Undead Labs also said it is "so close" to having news to share about the first downloadable content pack for State of Decay. No further information about the expansion was announced.

2K Games announced today the Borderlands 2 $100,000 Loot Hunt, an upcoming event that offers in-game and real-world prizes for players. The event kicks off on October 11 at 10 a.m. EDT and concludes on November 7 at 5 a.m. EDT.

Every day during the event, a special daily target will be displayed in-game. Players can take down the daily targets once a day for a total of 28 entries. On top of weekly sponsored prizes (listed below), one player will win $50,000 and four others will win varying amounts of cash totaling another $50,000.

More than a year after release, Borderlands 2 has "hundreds of thousands" of players, 2K said.

Those interested in participating in the $100,000 Borderlands 2 Loot Hunt event can log in to a special website using their SHiFT account information. Community goals will also be offered as part of the promotion, rewarding users with a "uniquely super-awesome gun" if players cumulatively kill enough enemies singled out in the daily community goals.

In addition to the cash prizes mentioned above, 2K will offer the following throughout the duration of the Borderlands 2 Loot Hunt.

PlayStation Vita handheld entertainment systems with copies of Borderlands 2 Vita once released

Lifetime supplies of all 2K titles on Steam -- past, present, and future

Only United States players are eligible for the cash and sponsored prizes, though all players worldwide can participate in the community-based goals, 2K said.

Borderlands 2 was originally released in September 2012. It has since shipped over 7 million copies and is on pace to become the highest-selling title in the history of 2K. A Game of the Year Edition will be released for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on October 8.

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